A series of delays has set back construction of a multi-million dollar hotel in downtown Woodland by about six months, but city staff indicate building permits are being issued and plans will soon be checked.

Acting Tuesday night, the City Council signed off through its consent calendar a request to extend the close of escrow, which basically delays construction to Spring 2018.

The $10.5 million hotel is proposed by Jivan Patel and Ramilaben Patel. When completed it would have 81 rooms and be five stories tall. The HIlton2 Suites Hotel would be located at 1021 Main where the Budget Inn is now situated and immediately adjacent to Freeman Park on the north side of Main Street west of Sixth Street, and directly north of the new Yolo County Courthouse.

It would be an extended-stay facility and is part of a series of hotels either completed or under construction in Yolo County by Royal Guest Hotels, including Winters, called Hotel Winters; and an Embassy Suites in Davis. The Patel’s also have five hotels in Sacramento.

The council favored the project when it was formally introduced in March 2016, although it has been under consideration since mid-2015. The city is involved because it is selling 0.55 acres to the Patel’s including .33 acres of property at the 2.25-acre Freeman Park and about 0.28 acres at the former Woodland Toy Library site.

It had been hoped that construction drawings and other work would be finished by this summer. However, “complexities of the project design delayed the submittal of the construction drawings,” according to Erika Bumgardner, senior planner for the city.

Due to the delays, the building plan was to be delivered to the city this past Monday for review. It is anticipated that review and approval of the drawings will take between 12- and 16 weeks.

Bumgardner reported that since council approval last year, an environmental survey located an underground heating oil tank located immediately south of the former Woodland Toy Library building, which over time has also housed the city’s Recreation Department, United Way and even the local offices of the California Highway Patrol.

The tank was removed in April and the soils around the tank were later found to be clear of any diesel contaminants.

Over the ensuing months as well, city staff and the Patel’s designers have been meeting to finalize project landscape plans which interface with Freeman Park, including proposed locations of new pedestrian walkways through the park where existing walkways must be moved as part of the project. The existing restrooms would also have to be relocated as that property would also be sold to the Patel’s.

The Patel’s are also now working with PG&E to identity joint trench location and any necessary easements will be prepared by the city and applicant’s civil team if trenching must be provided through city property.

Bumgardner reported that once all the building permits have been inspected and signed off on then construction can begin.

As part of the plan, the city is expected to help relocate the Toy Library to a different location.

According to a staff report the project would generate one-time revenues in the form of development impact fees and permit fees. Once completed, the project will have “significant direct and indirect positive fiscal impacts in the form of property and sales taxes and transient occupancy tax, as well as business license fees. Further, the project is expected to stimulate additional economic activity for existing downtown businesses and generate demand for new businesses that will result in the reinvestment in downtown properties translating to further increases in property and sales tax revenues for the city.”

Primary concerns for the city as well as the council centered around parking along with energy efficiency with parking being the more problematic of the two. The hotel will need 105 spaces under city ordinance, but could go as low as 90. The reason for the variation had to do with the transient nature of the hotel’s occupants, any diners in a planned first-floor restaurant and those shopping at a planned retail space.

Bumgardner has also reported the hotel is being color-coordinated to match the historic character of downtown Woodland and would also open up onto Freeman Park, allowing people more immediate access to the park. The actual four stories of the hotel itself would be set back from Main and Sixth streets so as not to dominate the area. Signage would consist primarily of a “Hilton” sign on a white strip separating the southern and northern halves of the structure with the sign itself “subtly lit” night.

In terms of its energy efficiency, Bumgardner said the project provides for 21 onsite bicycle spaces, roof-mounted solar panels, six electric-vehicle charging stations, tankless water heaters in all guest rooms and a thermal solar system for the indoor pool.

Jim Smith is an award winning news and editorial writer and photographer who has been editor of The Daily Democrat since 1994. He has more than 37 years of professional newspaper experience as a reporter and editor for weekly and small daily newspapers. He has won numerous writing awards over his career as well as awards for photography and newspaper pagination as well as public service.